VPBA Newsletter December 2010

December 2006

SideNotes

Kerry's Korner...

Well, another
semester and calendar year are quickly coming to an end. I’m
sure it’s my age, but they are definitely coming at an
accelerated pace, with great frequency and force. I find it
challenging to ask myself if over the past year I’ve made much
progress in those most important areas of my life – both
professional and personal, is Business Affairs a better place to
work for our employees, and do our customers believe that we are
better partners in their pursuit of success?

We’ll be asking
these questions and more as we begin the New Year. I need each
of you to participate in the January 2007 Survey of
Organizational Excellence so that I may see the progress
we’ve made over the last two years and identify those areas
where we need to improve the most. Also, the Business
Horizons readership survey later this month will assist
us in improving our communication to you. Your response to
these two surveys will be most beneficial to me, and hopefully
to you.

Thanks for your
support this past year and for your ongoing pursuit of
excellence! You are each appreciated and respected for your
individual and group contributions to the University and to each
other. From all my colleagues in the Office of VP for Business
Affairs, we wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and an
enriching and refreshing holiday season.

HAPPY
HOLIDAYS!

Calendar of Events

New Employee
Welcome ProgramDecember 5

Business Affairs
Holiday
Reception
Laurel Room
December 19

Christmas Holidays
December 25-26

Skelton Crew Days
December 27-29

Worth Remembering...
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I
learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."

Helen Keller

Herman Herrera

Business Horizons
Readership Survey

We are always
looking for ways to improve the Business Horizons monthly
newsletter and are very interested in your feedback. During the
month of December, we will be distributing a readership survey
via email. For staff without email, printed forms will be
available through your departments. Thank you in advance for
your participation to help us keep you better informed!

Herman Herrera was
born and raised in San Antonio. He has worked at UTSA for seven
years and recently became a Building Attendant II, assigned to
the Engineering Building. Herman has more than 23 years of
custodial experience and hopes to have his own crew one
day.

Herman comes from a
family of six, with four sisters and one brother. His father was
the head custodian for SAISD for 37 years and his mother worked
at Santa Rosa Hospital as a supervisor. He has been married to
Mercedes Zungia, who also works for UTSA, for six years.
Together, they have eight children and eleven grandchildren.

In his free time,
Herman enjoys camping, and fishing, and doing things around the
home with his family.

Herman, thank you
for your service and dedication to the University and Business
Affairs.

Herman will be receiving a Roadrunner meal card to use for
either breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Roadrunner Cafe,
compliments of Chartwells.
Our thanks to Chartwells for their support!

AWESOME RESPONSE TO NEED –
RECORDS SET
by Business Affairs

Dr.
Romo announced this week that the university’s participation in
this year’s SECC initiative reached 62.2%, an increase
from 54.8% in 2005. This is a significant increase for the
campus as a whole and it’s important that you understand what a
large role Business Affairs – many of you – played in making
this increase possible.

Business
Affairs’ employees’ participation increased to an astonishing
79.2%!
Out of 491 Business Affairs employees, 389 participated in the
campaign, a 46.2% increase from the 266 who participated in
2005. This is a remarkable achievement when you consider
that the total number of Business Affairs staff only increased
4% from last year. Your response to the great need of
individuals and families who depend on those agencies supported
by the United Way reflects the good hearts and sacrifice of
Business Affairs staff. Many of those who are recipients
of this aid are your closest colleagues and friends.

Consider, also, that out of the 36 departments comprising
Business Affairs, 17 of them (47% - almost half) reached 100%
and a total of 24 departments exceeded 80% participation – that
is, two-thirds of all Business Affairs departments had 80% or
more of their employees participate in the campaign! This
participation level is phenomenal – we had 31% more departments
reaching 100% and 50% more departments with 80% or more
participation than in 2005.

You answered the call with amazing generosity. Each of my
direct reports has received a participation breakdown by their
departments and they should be further communicating the great
success of many of their areas. Your awesome response and answer
to the call for assistance is humbling and inspiring.
Please know how grateful the president and I are for your
sacrifice. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of such a
great Division and University as ours.

Kerry

This Month in History

brought to
you by

ITC Cultural Courier

December 11, 1835 General Cos' Mexican Army surrendered San
Antonio to Texans following the Siege of Bexar.

December 27, 1836 Stephen F.
Austin passed away.

December 29, 1842 Sam Houston
ordered officials to travel to Austin and remove the records of
the Republic of Texas for transport to the city of Houston. The
bloodless Achieves War ensued.

December 29, 1845 President
James Polk signed legislation making Texas the 28th state of the
United States.

Survey of
Organizational Excellence

As we begin the
month of December, we are all looking forward to the holidays
and the beginning of a new year.

A new year is the
most natural time for us to reflect and take stock of where
we’ve been and where we are going as individuals, and as an
organization. In order to use our reflections to move us forward
in positive directions, we will be conducting the Survey of
Organizational Excellence (SOE) for all areas of Business
Affairs beginning January 8, 2007. Many of you will remember
taking the survey in January 2005.

Since 2005,
executives and managers have used the information gathered to
strive for systematic improvements in these five important
dimensions.

Work group
effectiveness; including team and supervisory relationships

Workplace
accommodations; including pay, physical environment and
employee development

Organization
features; including quality and strategic emphasis

Information
flow; within and between work groups

Personal aspects
of work; including job satisfaction and management of time
and stress issues

As a result of the
last survey, each work group found different strengths and
opportunities for development. Programs have been developed,
avenues of communication have been designed and team
relationships have been supported with team building. To find
out more about the specific techniques implemented in your area,
talk to your supervisor!

We look forward to
your participation and feedback as we continue to strive toward
creating an organizational climate of Excellence. Stay tuned for
more information during the month of December! And, thank you
for your enthusiasm and interest! We are all each others
customers and partners for Excellence!

THE HOLIDAY SEASON WILL BE HERE BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
IT'S TIME TO PLAN AHEAD!!

HR recommends that all managers have their
employees submit their vacation requests starting now to
determine departmental coverage for the Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays, to include the skeleton crew days in
December. Please refer to the
UTSA holiday schedule.

As always, all
employee requests for leave during the holidays are subject to
business needs and management approval. Taking action early can
help the department provide
needed coverage, minimize disruption and provide employees the
opportunity to plan ahead.

Values Initiative

The University Strategic Planning Committee, in conjunction with
input from various sources, has developed a list of University
Values (Integrity, Excellence, Inclusiveness, Respect,
Collaboration, and Innovation).

Over the next
several months, we will organize focus sessions to obtain input
from you on how we model these values in Business Affairs. We'd love to have
you part of this important initiative. Watch for more
information.

Business Affairs Promise
We are committed to helping you
achieve your goals through excellence
in service --every person, every dayevery job.

The University
of Texas at San Antonio Police Department conducted its first
ever promotion celebration on Tuesday, November 28, 2006.

At the
ceremony, Chief David Hernandez was officially commissioned as a
Texas Peace Officer. This added to a distinguished law
enforcement career that includes over 20 years of law
enforcement service. He was sworn in by John Slettebo, who is
the Interim Director of the University of Texas System
Police. In his remarks to the crowd, Chief Hernandez commented
that police promotion ceremonies are rich in tradition and that
this one was a first of many to come for the UTSA Police
Department.

Sgt. Stephanie
Padula, a 13-year veteran of the department, was promoted to
Lieutenant and will oversee the Administrative Support Section
of the UTSA Police Department. This section has oversight of the
police department budget and provides other critical support to
areas of police operations such as recruiting & training, crime
prevention and fleet maintenance.

Cpl. James
Carter, a 28-year veteran of the department, was promoted to
Sergeant and will continue to supervise the security detail at
the Institute of Texan Cultures. Additionally, he will
serve as the Accreditation Manager for the department as it goes
through the process with the Commission on Accreditation for Law
Enforcement Agencies.

Ofc. Geoffrey
Merritt, a 5-year veteran of the department, was promoted to
Corporal and will, in addition to his duties as a Crime
Prevention Instructor, supervise the Crime Prevention Unit.

Ofc. Ernest
Natal, a 3-year veteran of the department, was promoted to
Corporal and will remain in the Patrol Division as a supervisor
on the third shift.

There were many
distinguished guests in attendance at the promotion ceremony. In
addition to friends and family of the officers who were
promoted, San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus as
well as chiefs from local university police departments attended
the ceremony. Several UTSA officials attended including Mr.
Kerry Kennedy, Vice President of Business Affairs, who gave a
keynote address. Mr. Kennedy remarked on the rapid growth of The
University of Texas at San Antonio and how the university police
department will continue to play a vital function to the safety
and security of UTSA.

James Bauerle Road Extension.
Planned completion December 2006. This
extension to James Bauerle Road will create an access controlled
service road connection to Lot 4 behind the Main Building.

We have managed to stay undefeated in football – because we
don’t have a team; but, will that change in the next couple of
years?
This is the question on the mind of many UTSA students, faculty,
staff and community leaders. The University recently
received a final report from Carr Sports Associates of
Gainesville, Florida., a national consulting firm, regarding the
feasibility of eventually adding NCAA Division I football to the
UTSA sports program. The report does not make a final
recommendation about adding football.

Several months of
additional review and study by University officials and the
community will take place before a final position is taken on
adding football. Quotes from Dr. Romo: "The report is only
the first step in gathering information concerning costs and
infrastructure, but now it is time for us to meet with students,
faculty, staff and the community before making a decision in the
best interest of UTSA. For UTSA to consider adding football,
this study makes it clear that doing so requires careful
planning and an evaluation of available resources."

Since neither
tuition nor state appropriations can be used to support the
athletics program, the University will evaluate student interest
in approving additional fees to support athletics. Not including
start-up expenses, a Division I-A football program could cost up
to $8 million per year. With 16 sports, the University
recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its athletics
program. UTSA is a member of the Southland Conference.

"We are making great
strides in athletics at UTSA," said Athletic Director Lynn
Hickey. "I want to thank the UTSA Athletics Council and the
individuals and groups who funded this feasibility study. I
believe all of us are looking forward to taking the next steps
in developing a blueprint for the future of the Division I
program at UTSA."

Football. Feasible or Not?
Much, much more on this topic over the next several months.
You can access the complete report at the
UTSA Athletics Feasibility Study Web
site.

UTSA Negotiating 125 Acre
Land Acquisition

Sonia Saenz
Facilities
Housekeeping and Event Services Manager

Congratulations to Sonia Saenz on
her promotion to Facilities Housekeeping and Event Services
Manager. Sonia brings to this position the same level of
professionalism and enthusiasm she exhibited during her eight
months as Interim Housekeeping and Events Services Manger. Some
of Sonia’s accomplishments as Interim Manger include: balancing
the housekeepers workload equitably, working to address the
shortage of housekeeping equipment with the purchase of buffers,
scrubbers, extractors, and vacuum cleaners, setting up a service
contract to keep equipment serviced, maintained, and repaired,
filled over 20 vacancies in the housekeeping department, reduced
operational costs with no impact to customers, utilized the
savings to purchase two much needed trucks for the Special
Events Department, and purchased stages and tables to also be
used for special events.

Thank you Sonia for accepting the
position and best wishes for continued success.

REMINDER.....Please email us the new employees in your
department, so we can add them to the newsletter mailing.

The
U.T. System Board of Regents recently approved the purchase of a
125-acre parcel of land near the 1604 Campus. The land will
allow the university to expand to the west as the university
continues its rapid growth. The Board agreed to provide $14.5
million of the estimated $20 million to purchase the land.

“This is an historic moment for UTSA," said UTSA President
Ricardo Romo.
"We are grateful to the Board of Regents for their support as
UTSA continues its efforts to serve more students and become a
premier research university."

The new land could be used for a variety of purposes, including
athletic and recreation programs, parking, student housing, and
other academic or research purposes. The acquisition will
address the approximate 70 acre deficit identified in the
university’s 2004 Master Plan and will provide the university
greater flexibility on the 1604 Campus for construction of
academic and research buildings. Plans are being made to
develop a new Master Plan for the 1604 Campus, and a timeline
will be established over the next few months.

The land is approximately one-half mile west of the 1604 Campus,
northeast of the intersection of Loop 1604 and West Hausman
Road. University and U.T. System personnel continue to discuss
and negotiate the possible acquisition with the landowner’s
representatives. The acquisition of additional land has
been considered for over two years and talks about this
particular parcel began three months ago. There will be
more to report in the next couple of months.

UTSA 2016: Creating a Shared Vision

Last
May, an open dialogue began about UTSA’s future. We continue to
work to bring the University community together behind a shared
vision. The shared vision, and how we can achieve it, will be
described in UTSA’s strategic plan.

Lots of work has been done by teams of people around the campus
to describe our goals, objectives, strategies and metrics in
each of nine thematic areas. These areas are accountability,
community engagement, enrollment management, faculty and staff
success, globalization, infrastructure, research, resources, and
student success. In early November, everyone in the UTSA
community was invited to attend one or more focus groups to hear
more about the strategic planning process and provide valuable
insight and input into how we can achieve our dreams.

Would you like to be a part of
the process? Everyone is invited to review the draft team
reports and comment. You can find the draft team reports,
as well as a survey, on line at http://www.utsa.edu/ir/strategic
planning/index.html.

With input from the UTSA community, the UTSA Development Board,
and others, the teams are finalizing their individual team
plans. The plans are due in mid-December. An overall strategic
plan will then be crafted using the individual team plans, and a
final plan submitted to UT System by May.

The strategic plan, together with updated mission and vision
statements and core values that underlie all of our activities,
will provide a clear path for all of us to follow in our
everyday work. Together we can make UTSA an institution of
public education known for access and excellence!